8 Inventions You Thought Were Patent-Free But Could Get You Sued If You Use Them

"There are hundreds of thousands of crappy, vague, overly broad patents out there, and all you have to do is scoop up one of these patents and threaten to sue. No one is going to defend themselves, because it makes no financial sense," says Julie Samuels, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which is running a database of patent troll claims. "It's totally legal, and very lucrative, and absolutely shady."

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